Swine Song

Greg Kotis, on his agri-eco farce, Pig Farm

Comments (0) By Steven Leigh Morris Wednesday, Jan 10 2007

Another revelatory experience for Kotis occurred during a visit to a factory farm, when he had to dress in a special suit so he wouldn’t contaminate the animals.

“A whole herd can be wiped out when one gets sick,” he says. Disaster is always one tiny virus away.

And these little piggies went to the market. (Photo by Ed Krieger/SCR)

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Kotis certainly doesn’t subscribe to the artist-as-a-vehicle-of-God approach to writing.

“I visited a friend recently, a contractor,” Kotis says. “He can build a house. I can’t do that. I scribble away and try to come up with things that will make people laugh. I feel like I’m the most expendable person on Earth. I like survivalists. They know how to forage for food. Two percent of the population is involved in food production. I’m one of the 98 percent, so there’s a lot of us.”

Given the subject matter of Urinetown, Pig Farm and Kotis’ play that came in between (Eat the Taste — a self-referential comedy about former Attorney General John Ashcroft, who, after having seen Urinetown, strong-arms Kotis and Hollman into writing a musical about him), it’s hard to take at face value Kotis’ claim that he doesn’t write from political convictions. His works are saturated in politics, though his point of view steers clear of righteous indignation or appeals for action. Instead, Kotis uses his wit to penetrate his despondency — a jokester who doesn’t believe in happy endings.

“Keep in mind,” he points out, “that Pig Farm is written from the viewpoint of an urban person disconnected from what makes the world go round, who is convinced that it’s not going to end well.”

Pig Farm is in previews at South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa; opens Jan. 12; plays through Jan. 28. (714) 708-5555 or www.scr.org.